Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and alternative medicine

(Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes widespread pain, sleep problems, fatigue, and often psychological distress. People with fibromyalgia may also have other symptoms, such as

Morning stiffness.

Tingling or numbness in hands and feet.

Headaches, including migraines.

Irritable bowel syndrome.

Sleep disturbances.

Cognitive problems with thinking and memory (sometimes called "fibro fog").

Painful menstrual periods and other pain syndromes.

​Fibromyalgia is considered a rheumatic (arthritis) disorder. It is the thought of some functional medicine providers that this may be reclassified as an autoimmune disease sometime in the future due to its presentation and widespread clinical symptoms.

Fibromyalgia patients often have chronic fatigue due in part to their sleep disturbances. A full functional medicine work up is warranted to get a complete picture of the factors affecting the case.

Here is an example of a case where the patient followed Science Based Nutrition recommendations:

An endocrinologist told this patient she was a candidate for malnutrition, starvation hospitalization and death. Patient - “I was actually dying. I knew I was… the best I could hope for was disability."​In just 3 months:

Returned To Work

Exercising 2x Per Week

Down To Just 6 Medications

Thyroid Steadily Improving

Liver Enzymes Within Normal Ranges

Allergies Improved ​​

The profile here is of a 48 year old woman who presented with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, and hypothyroid. She held an extremely stressful job working 12 hour days, but was on leave since "every cell in my body hurt, except my eyes." She was now in bed for up to 16 hours a day, but waking every half hour due to her fibromyalgia pain. She was taking several vitamins, as well as 10 medications for sinus, low bone density, obsessive compulsive disorder, low Ferritin levels, progesterone and a bacterial infection and sleep.

The initial blood test showed a low functioning thyroid, high liver markers (AST, ALT), and some problems in the cholesterol panel. The LDH was also high indicating cell breakdown and destruction. Her toxic element & mineral test showed several mineral imbalances and virtually no toxic elements coming out of her system (which is odd--you should clear toxins from your body). Many of her chief complaints could be caused by this problem including hormonal imbalances (like the thyroid), fatigue, pain, and high cholesterol.

Following her SBN program, she reported a 90% improvement in her fibromyalgia and fatigue within 7 months. ​She was still holding onto toxins and had more work to do, but she was very happy with her progress.